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Priez pour paix, FP95

Introduction

Poulenc found this poem reprinted in Le Figaro of 29 September 1938, thus exactly at the time of the Munich crisis when the whole world was on tenterhooks, fearing imminent war with Germany. In fact, the poem as quoted in the newspaper was only the first ten lines of a fifty-line Ballade with a five-line envoi, but it was sufficient for the composer’s purposes. Poulenc wrote a song, fervent and grave, inspired by his own Litanies à la vierge noire. It was a prayer that worked at the time, but sadly only temporarily. In JdmM Poulenc confessed that it was the faith on his father’s side of the family that had inspired him: ‘All my religious music sits back on the style that is inspired in me by Paris and its outskirts. When I pray it is the native of Aveyron who reawakens in me. This is evidence of heredity. Faith is strong in all the Poulencs … it is a prayer to be spoken in a country church.’ The hieratic song in 6/4 has an introduction in stately crotchets, a pulse continued throughout the song which seems much slower than the metronome marking. The music transcends pastiche, although the musical rigours of the poet’s own epoch are not lost on the composer. There was a perfect reason for writing this song, and this was a perfect poem by a medieval prisoner of war that utterly reflected the concerns of the contemporary world in 1938. Perhaps it is no surprise therefore that this is a work that achieves a perfection of its own. Composer and poet make time stand still in every way; one cannot imagine a single note different.

Recordings

Graham Johnson is simply the greatest living authority on French song; an artist whose innate feeling for the music is combined with prodigious scholarship. Following his many wonderful recordings in Hyperion’s French Song Edition, Johnson turns t ...» More

Pray for peace, gentle Virgin Mary,
Queen of the skies and Mistress of the world,
Of your courtesy, ask for the prayers
of all the saints, and make your address
to your Son, beseeching his Majesty
that he may please to look upon his people,
whom he wished to redeem with his blood,
banishing war which disrupts all.
Do not cease your prayers.
Pray for peace, pray for peace,
and true treasure of joy.

Pray for peace, gentle Virgin Mary,
Queen of the skies and Mistress of the world,
Of your courtesy, ask for the prayers
of all the saints, and make your address
to your Son, beseeching his Majesty
that he may please to look upon his people,
whom he wished to redeem with his blood,
banishing war which disrupts all.
Do not cease your prayers.
Pray for peace, pray for peace,
and true treasure of joy.

Priez pour paix was written in the dark days of the Munich crisis. The words are by Charles, duc d’Orléans (1394–1465). Poulenc wrote: ‘I tried to give here a feeling of fervour and above all of humility (for me the most beautiful quality of prayer). It is a prayer for a country church.’ This is not only religious music; in a subtle way it strives to achieve a medieval hieratic atmosphere appropriate to the poet.

Pray for peace, gentle Virgin Mary,
Queen of the skies and Mistress of the world,
Of your courtesy, ask for the prayers
of all the saints, and make your address
to your Son, beseeching his Majesty
that he may please to look upon his people,
whom he wished to redeem with his blood,
banishing war which disrupts all.
Do not cease your prayers.
Pray for peace, pray for peace,
and true treasure of joy.